Friday, January 23, 2015

The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is not a long lost story of romance. You won't find two lovers from ancient times that were madly in love. In fact, it is anything but romantic.

The tradition dates back to the times of ancient Druids. Mistletoe was said to have the power of restoring fertility because it could blossom even during the frozen winter months. It is a plant that grows on willow and apple trees and is said to possess mystical powers. The name mistletoe comes from two Anglo Saxon words. "Mistel" which means dung and "tan" which means twig or stick. While animals are able to eat it, the berries are poisonous to humans. so, how do we get "kissing" out of bunches of poisonous plants?

Well, there is also a the story of Baldur, who was the son of the Norse god Odin and Frigg, who is the goddess of love. Baldur was prophesied to die. His mother went to all the animals and plants in the world and had them promise they would not harm him. Frigg unfortunately failed to consult with the mistletoe plant and the berries the plant were used to kill him. Since the gods were able to bring Baldur back from the dead, Frigg declared mistletoe a symbol of love and she promised to kiss anyone who passed beneath the plant.

By the 18th century, mistletoe was incorporated into the Christmas holidays. It began in England, where a person could be kissed when a berry was picked from the mistletoe sprig. When all the berries were gone, the kissing would stop.

So how did we get from there to hanging a sprig in our doorways during the holiday season? I guess it is a combination of the goddess Frigg promising to kiss anyone who passes underneath the twigg and the mystical powers it is said to posses. All I know is that I will never look at mistletoe the same again, what about you?

References:Frank H. Tainter. (2002). What Does Mistletoe Have To Do With Christmas?. Available: http://www.apsnet.org/publications/apsnetfeatures/pages/mistletoe.aspx. Last accessed 14th January 2015.Unknown. (Unknown). The Tradition of Mistletoe at Christmas.Available: http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/mistletoe.shtml. Last accessed 14th January 2015.Chris Gayomali. (2012). Why do we kiss under the Mistletoe. Available: http://mentalfloss.com/article/31977/why-do-we-kiss-under-mistletoe. Last accessed 14th January 2015.Unknown. (2013). Why do we kiss under the Mistletoe. Available: http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/why-do-we-kiss-under-the-mistletoe. Last accessed 14th January 2015.Unknown. (Unknown). Why do people kiss under the Mistletoe.Available: http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-people-kiss-under-mistletoe/. Last accessed 14th January 2015.Image:Reprinted with permission from Pixaby http://pixabay.com/en/ilex-holly-berry-red-mistletoe-233654/

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Hello everyone! We have reached the midway point of Challenge #1. It is time to see what the Merry Maidens have been up to with their images from Limited Runs our guest sponsor this month!

Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to the page they are located on in the Limited Runs store...

Father Time (section: Christmas 1-10)

Blank Snow Globe (section: Christmas 71-80)

Coffee addicts #2 (section: Coffee 1-10)

Poinsettia Cupcake(section: Christmas 51-60)

Elf with Sign(section: Christmas 21-30)

Kitty with Ornament(section: Christmas 71-80)

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's
Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called A Matter of Time, based on the theme for this challenge. Check out the preview...

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of January will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post in February.

Don't forget there is still plenty of time to have your say in determining which colour will be offered to those people who
link up a minimum of two cards this month, by completing the poll in the
sidebar on the top right hand side. So far, there is one vote each for brown, blue, gold and purple. The poll will close when the challenge does.

Now
check out what the Merry Maidens came up with to inspire you. Edwina even had the time to make two! Monica, my Co-coordinator, also had the chance to make a card for the midway of the challenge. Clicking on
the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check
out the details for all these wonderful cards...

So if you haven't entered already, what are you waiting for? It is time to link up your Christmas and
other holiday cards for January. Whether you choose to link up two
Anything Goes themed cards simply to earn your free paper this month, or
you choose to also follow the optional theme to have a chance at the sponsor's
prize, it is completely up to you!

Here is a refresher of the details for our first challenge...Challenge #1 (January 1 to January 31, 2015) -- Optional Theme: Father Time
A new year means starting the clock over. A TIME for new beginnings. TIME to make all those Christmas Cards you will need in December. So don't put away your holiday stash quite yet, it is TIME to start The 12 months of Christmas Link Up.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest
sponsor this month, make sure that your card has something time related
on it. If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after
your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize.

Remember, you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and
earn a free paper each month and have your name thrown into the year
end draw for some extra digital goodies. You only need to follow the
theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a
$10.00 gift certificate from Limited Runs.

Your odds at the moment of winning the prize are good. Out of the 25 people who have linked up so far this month, not one person has followed the theme. Why not be the first person to do so?

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab. As this is a unique kind of link up where we have both an anything goes Christmas option and an optional theme to follow, be sure to read all the details and rules you need to know in order to participate, by checking out the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

You can find the Challenge Details Summary along with the link up for Challenge #1 by clicking HERE.

Don't Forget...

Be sure to join us on January 23rd, when Monica will be back to share another holiday tradition with you all.

Next up it will be time for our new challenge to start on February 1st.

Then, the winners from Challenge #1 will be posted on February 8th.

Other special posts may be published throughout the month. Be sure
to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through
Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Hello everyone! Well the new year is definitely underway and we're already a week in. Today I'm here to share the names of those individuals who won the candy we recently offered up. I've also tabulated the names of those individuals who linked a minimum of two Christmas cards over on the original link up, thus earning them two papers for the month of December. These names will be posted on my personal blog where I will also be sharing the names of the winners of the year end goodies for 2014. You can find all that information HERE.

Candy Winners...

Thanks to everyone who played along. Here are all the digital goodies that were up for grabs...

Thursday, January 01, 2015

Hello and Happy New Year everyone!

Welcome to The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up in its new home for 2015! We are so excited you are here. Since this is the first time that the link up is in its new home AND it is the first time that we are introducing optional themes and sponsors' prizes, I thought it would be a good idea to explain the process. All of this information (which includes a deeper explanation, including examples) can always be found at the top on our Challenge Details Page.

This link up is unique. First off, anyone can link any number of holiday themed cards throughout the month with an anything goes theme. Holiday themed means that we will accept any type of card as it relates to any recognized holiday taking place during the month of December, i.e. Chanukah, St. Lucia Day, St. Nicholaus Day, Festivus, Christmas. Kwanzaa, etc. This link up is not for other types of holidays like Easter, Valentine's Day, etc. It is strictly a means to help provide incentive to create Christmas and/or other December holiday cards. EDIT: We will also accept Happy New Year's cards.

A Little Incentive...

At the end of each month, every person who has linked up a MINIMUM of
two (2) Christmas or holiday themed cards will be eligible to
receive a specially designed Christmas themed digital paper created by
Lisa Décosse from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles. On a monthly basis, we
will go through and create a list of people's names and then post them
on the blog in a special winner's announcement. If your name appears on
the list, it will then be your responsibility to contact Lisa
(instructions for how to do so will be given in the post), in order to
claim your paper. That means that if you submit two cards each month,
by the time that the year is done, you will have received 12 free
digital papers, all for the low cost of linking up cards you need to
create anyway. You do not need to use the digital paper you receive
each month in your cards in order to get the next paper. They are
strictly meant as incentive to participate.

But wait there's more incentive...

Each month there will be an OPTIONAL theme to follow. Anyone who submits a card adhering to the monthly theme,
will have the chance to win a prize from that month's guest sponsor.

If you decide to follow the optional theme for a month, please be sure
to add the letters "FT" after your name so that we know you followed the
theme. For example, Lisa FT. After checking to make sure that you
have indeed followed the theme, you will receive an entry into the draw
for the sponsor's prize. In order to make it fair for everyone, we will
only be able to consider a maximum of three cards that have followed
the theme, for the draw.

You will still be allowed to link up as many Christmas and/or holiday
cards during the month that you would like, it is simply that for each
card following the monthly theme, there will be a limit of three that
will be considered for the draw.

...And even more...

Every holiday card you submit to the link up, earns you one chance to win a
special digital Christmas kit that will be offered up after the year is
complete. This kit will include digital papers and other possible
embellishments (for example: frames, buttons, brads, ribbons, flowers,
wordart creations, etc.). Each section of the kit will be offered up as
a prize
and then the whole kit will be offered up as a grand prize. So for
example, if you submit 40 cards across the whole year, you will have 40
chances to win these extra goodies. How is that for even more
incentive?!

In case you are a little confused, we have provided examples of a few different scenarios to help make this a bit clearer over on the Challenge Details Page.

RULES

The rules are simple and similar to what you would find on most challenge blogs:

You must enter a card. The goal of this challenge is to help you
keep ahead with your Christmas cards so other types of creations (tags,
scrapbook pages, altered items, etc.) will not be accepted.

You can enter as many times as you would like to enter as long as each entry is with a new project. No backlinking.
Just remember the more you enter the better your chance will be of
winning the kit that will be handed out at the end of the year.

If you decide to follow along for the optional theme during a month, once again you can make as many cards as you want following the theme but only a maximum of three entries will qualify for the draw for that month's prize from a guest sponsor. You must add 'FT' after you name so we know which cards to add to the random draw for the sponsor's prize.

You can combine your entry with as many other challenges as you would like to combine it with.

You can use any image from any company that you would like. You
don't need to use the digital paper that you may receive each month (if
you upload a minimum of two cards) in order to qualify to receive the
next month's paper. Of course, I would love to see a card created using
one of these papers and there just might be an extra bonus for those who
do. You just never know!

Make sure when entering your project that you mention The 12 Months
of Christmas Link Up in your post with a link back to this blog.

Please remember to link directly to your blog post where we can see
your creation, and not just the generic link to your blog. Generic blog
links will be disabled or deleted.

To qualify to receive the free digital paper for the month, you must
link up two cards no later than 11:55 p.m. on the last day of the
month.

Challenge #1 Details and DT Projects

Now that the basics are out of the way, how about we get on with the details of our very first challenge for 2015!Challenge #1 (January 1 to January 31, 2015) -- Optional Theme: Father Time
A new year means starting the clock over. A TIME for new beginnings. TIME to make all those Christmas Cards you will need in December. So don't put away your holiday stash quite yet, it is TIME to start The 12 months of Christmas Link Up.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest
sponsor this month, make sure that your card has something time related
on it. If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after
your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize.

Remember, you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and
earn a free paper each month and have your name thrown into the year
end draw for some extra digital goodies. You only need to follow the
theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a
$10.00 gift certificate from Limited Runs.

Talking about Limited Runs, how about we get to know them a little bit better...

Limited Runs has a LARGE calorie free sweet shoppe filled with over 120
different cupcakes, something for almost every occasion. It's not all
cupcakes there are tons of Christmas, Halloween, Backgrounds, Fairies,
Critters and More to see. The store has gone through a re-vamp with new
digital stamps added in all the time so pop in an take a look around
things. Everyone knows you can't enjoy a cupcake without a coffee so
there is a place to even pick up a cuppa. There's always a little
something for everyone to enjoy and grab the monthly freebie so you can
sample before you buy and add to your collection.

Check out all the fabulous images that the Sleigh Belles got to work with this month for the start of the challenge. You'll get to see the images that the Merry Maidens worked with at the midway. Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to the page they are located on in the Limited Runs store...

Father Time(section: Christmas 1-10)

Snow Globe Set (section: Christmas 71-80)

Santa's Head (section: Christmas 61-70)

Little Tree (section: Christmas 11-20)

Santa This Way Cupcake (section: PreColoured Digis PC4)

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called A Matter of Time, based on the theme for this challenge. Check out the preview...

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of January will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post.

Have your say in determining which colour will be offered to those who link up a minimum of two cards this month by completing the poll in the sidebar on the top right hand side.

Now
check out what the Sleigh Belles came up with to inspire you. I (Lisa) also had the chance to make a card for the start of the challenge. Clicking on
the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check
out the details for all these wonderful cards...

So what are you waiting for? It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for January. Whether you choose to link up two Anything Goes themed cards simply to earn your free paper this month, or you choose to also follow the theme to have a chance at the sponsor's prize, it is completely up to you!

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab and all the details you need to know in order to participate, in the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

We have a packed month so Monica and I hope to see you back with us soon!

Join us on January 8th when we'll publish the names of the people who earned the free paper for December. As the link up for December cards are over on my personal blog which was the original home for The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up, I'll also post the names there. We'll also publish the winners of the candy during that same post.

Next, be sure to join us on January 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens!

Then on January 23rd, Monica will be back to share another holiday tradition with you all.

Other special posts may be published throughout the month. Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

CHALLENGE DETAILS SUMMARY
Each month we'll include a summary of details for the particular challenge taking place. If you are new, please be sure to familiarize yourself with all the details and rules in the
'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page. Please note that dates and times listed below are for
this particular challenge only:

Cards for this challenge will be accepted from 6:00 p.m. (18:00 hrs), January 1st - 11:55 p.m. (23:55 hrs), January 31st, 2015.

You need to link up a minimum of two (2) Christmas or holiday themed cards each month in order to qualify to receive that month's digital paper.

You can link up as many holiday themed cards as you want; HOWEVER, if you decide to follow the optional theme of FATHER TIME (see specific details above), only a maximum of three (3) entries will qualify for the draw for this month's $10.00 gift certificate from Limited Runs. You must add 'FT' after you name so we know which cards to add to the random draw for the sponsor's prize.

The winners and top picks for Challenge #1 will be announced on February 8th in a special post.

Please help spread the word by grabbing our badge, adding it to your blog and linking it to ours.

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Welcome!

Hello and welcome to The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up. You'll find everything you need to know about this challenge blog, how to play and more, by checking out the different pages at the top of the blog.

We hope that you'll consider joining us! We can't wait to see your creations!

Lisa and Pat

If you ever have any questions, please feel free to contact us by email: the_12_moc_linkup {at] outlook [dot] com.

Thanks so much to Sandy S. from Scribbles Designs who has generously allowed us to use her images in the design of our badges and watermarks. Please be sure to go and check out her store. Clicking on the badge will take you there.

Looking for Fabulous Blogwear?! Well look no further than Imagine That. Thanks to Kris B. for creating this beautiful blogwear for us. You too can have unique backgrounds! Be sure to check out Imagine That's line of incredible free blogwear. Clicking on the badge will take you the blogwear section of the store.

Current Challenge

Challenges go live the 1st of each month generally at 6:00 p.m., EST. Please click HERE to go to the current challenge. Linking two cards each month earns you a free digi paper and a chance to win other goodies at the end of the year. Follow the optional theme for a chance to win a prize from our monthly guest sponsor.

Challenge Winners

Are you a lucky winner or part of the top three in Challenge #29? Click HERE to find out. If you missed the results of Challenge #28, click HERE. For all other previous challenges click HERE.